I'm just curious, could someone tell me what was going on with my laptop?

Where is your disk drive or CD ROM drive located? They typically have permanent magnet brushless DC motors in them.

Ross

Maybe there is a magnetic switch for telling the lid is closed ?

Or it's possessed

It's a netbook, so there's no optical drive!


I don't think so, I don't remember it being like that before. I didn't notice it yesterday until I went to put a thumb drive in the USB port that's right underneath that paper clip, and the thumb drive was clearly being magnetically pulled to the side of the computer. So I tried a few other metal objects and sure enough it was magnetized for some reason. It was pretty strong, too. I'll have to get it out today and see if it's still doing that, or if it was just the house I had it out at yesterday.

[/quote]Or it's possessed [/quote]
I think you're on to something here.

What make/model of netbook? Might there be a tear down or repair manual for it on the internet?

Hold a magnet to the lid where it would align with that spot when closed and see if the lid-close action happens.

That's the only reason for there to be a magnet there.

Matt, time to remove those stickers too. You don't leave the price sticker on the windshield of your car do you?

There not price stickers, those are Go Faster racing stripes, there good for an extra 5hp!

Uh, those aren't exactly like those giant stickers that list the laptop's specs. I know some people leave those on for the entire time they own the laptop. The main reason I leave these on is because I know those are not going to remove as easily as those big stickers. Basically I don't feel like getting out the Goo Gone.

I'll check out the magnet thing, but I don't think that's it. I've never had a thumb drive do that when I plugged it into that port.

*edit*

ps- to answer the question, it's an MSI Wind U100 netbook.

Paper clip aerobics?

No, clearly you bought the optional paper clip organizer feature that prevents your paper clips from getting tangled up. Wasn't that about $45 extra?

tanstaafl.

Wow, okay, I feel like a dufus. You guys are correct, it's for the lid. I guess I've never noticed it before because I've never had a USB peripheral attract to the magnet like that. Oh well, that was silly of me.

That's because the other thumb drives likely didn't have as much iron content in their USB plug shields, making them less attracted to the magnet.

I'm pretty sure those stickers "should" remove with little or no residue. They're not meant to remain attached to the computer, just the same way the ones that come attached to cameras are supposed to be removed.

Wow, can't say I'm surprised I'm arguing this with you, but no, that's not what those stickers are, and no, they're not easy to remove. These kinds of stickers are easy to remove and are intended to be removed. The Intel and Windows stickers they want you to keep there. I can say with certainty that they would leave lots of residue.

If I feel like it some time I'll take them off, but it's a hassle.

Yeah, they really do take a lot of effort to remove. For one thing, they're made of very stiff material, so it's hard to even get a corner to lift in the first place. And once you do, it tends to leave a lot of residue behind. Fortunately, computer cases are pretty smooth, so it's not too difficult to remove the residue by dabbing the sticker back on the residue. Eventually it'll all stick to the sticker.

Regardless, they're clearly not intended to be removed. That said, they annoy the living piss out of me, so I do it anyway.

Those advertising stickers are just all part of the big discount games OEMs play, and yes, they are intentionally made to be a PITA to remove. As long as an OEM puts those on, they get a few dollars off every chip they buy from Intel, or copy of Windows from Microsoft.

You're ahead of the game if you're merely worrying about "residue". I'd take a hammer and chisel to those stickers if I had to.

Peter

Hmm, must be a different experience than I've seen then. I've seen the metallic plates and mini plaques on desktops which are difficult to remove. They're usually in a location that makes at least some sense.

On laptops I haven't actually removed any in a long time, but the ones I did remove, from an Acer, from an Asus and I believe a Dell, all came off without any fuss. They were metallized/coated paper, but they weren't thick or stiff. I can't remember which stickers were removed form which machine, but I'm talking about at least two different stickers - MS-Windows and Intel Inside.

Like everyone else, I know why they're there. Like Bitt and Peter, I don't usually let them sit around on machines I have anything to do with. Heck, the ones I took off weren't even from my own machines.

In regards to the OEM discount, I was pricing some work laptops out a while back and one of the vendors had an option to not put the stickers on, and it cost something like $3. (I think it was HP.)

The ones I've had on my laptops were the big paper spec stickers and little square ones that were made of thick metal foil. Both weren't particularly difficult to remove. The little ones did leave some residue but that came off easily.

In my experience, eventually the adhesive becomes gooey and the stickers will creep around under minimal force. By that time the printing will be mostly worn off the stickers, and the paint on the palm rests will have been burnt thru.

Are not the shells of most thumb drive plugs made from plated brass? Thus non magnetic.

Many lappies have one or more magnets and opposing magnetic switches in them. I'd be surprised to find a new one that didn't. MacBook Pros snap closed because of some pretty strong ones.

Yeah. This is why I remove them.

Ahh.. Thanks Bitt & Bruno.

Here I was, sitting and staring at ctvolympics.ca (waiting for the gold medals to be presented to the Martin Rink), and you folks gave me something useful to do!

Took only about 50 seconds total, to remove the two stickers and wipe away the residue with a paper towel.

MUCH better now!